The invention relates to a portable container for transporting live fish, bait, and the like where it is necessary to keep the fish alive for a long period of time. The present invention has special use for transporting fish, from a hatchery to a stream for the stocking of the stream with young fish and for carrying fish or bait to and from fresh water fishing sites.
A recent method for transporting fish and keeping them alive during the transportation period utilizes a polyethylene bag which after being supplied with water, fish, and a sufficient supply of oxygen, may be hermetically sealed. However, upon opening of the polyethylene bag to remove a portion of the fish, or bait, all the oxygen stored therein escapes thereby necessitating the resupply of oxygen in order to maintain the remaining fish or bait alive. Since during an extended fishing trip or transportation to a stream access to a continuous supply of oxygen is not available, the maintenance of bait, fish and the like for long periods is most difficult.
The use of a polyethylene bag, therefore, is not very suitable for transporting fish to different locations where a portion of the fish contained in the bag is intermittently removed while the rest remain therein. One attempt to overcome this disadvantage has been to provide a more conventional canvas vessel mounted on a truck, car or the like. This canvas vessel is generally very large in size and is supplied with a cylinder of oxygen by which oxygen may be resupplied after the opening thereof and removal of a portion of the fish. However, due to the large size of the canvas vessel, it is both uneconomical to make and its use is limited, to the transport of large amounts of fish. As a result, when transferring a portion of the fish from the canvas vessel, the fish must first be placed in a smaller container, such as a bucket, increasing the chance of death due to insufficient oxygen supply. The canvas vessel also suffers from the drawback that as it is transported by the vehicle, the movement and vibration caused by the car will affect the water pressure within the vessel, so as to be potentially harmful to the fish. In addition, since the vessel is of such great size, it is not practicable to place the canvas vessel within a refrigerator as for cryostatic transportation.
It is, an object of the present invention to provide a portable apparatus for the transport of fish, live bait, and the like which allows for the transport thereof for a long time without those risks inherent in the prior art.
It is another object of the present invention to provide apparatus for the transport of fish and the like which allows for the insertion of a hand into the container, or for the removal of a portion of the fish without adversely affecting the oxygen supply.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a portable transport container for fish and the like, that is easily resupplied with fresh oxygen and which forcibly circulates the oxygen in the container to insure a proper dispersion of the oxygen in the water.
The foregoing objects, as well as other objects and advantages will be seen from the following disclosure of the present invention.